Ahoi Ashtami 2026: Date, Puja Muhurat and When the Stars Come Out

Ahoi Ashtami falls on Sunday 1 November 2026, three days after Karwa Chauth and a week before Diwali. In Delhi the puja muhurat is 5:36 PM to 6:54 PM, and the stars are taken to be out at 6:00 PM.

The fast is kept by mothers for their children, without food or water, and it ends when the stars or the moon are sighted. Which of the two depends on the family, and on this date the difference is large. In Delhi the stars come at 6:00 PM. The moon does not rise until 11:40 PM.

The timings by city

In Delhi the puja runs from 5:36 PM to 6:54 PM, the stars are out at 6:00 PM and the moon rises at 11:40 PM.

In Lucknow the puja is 5:24 PM to 6:41 PM, with stars at 5:48 PM and moonrise at 11:28 PM.

In Jaipur the puja is 5:44 PM to 7:01 PM, with stars at 6:08 PM and moonrise at 11:50 PM.

In Mumbai the puja is 6:05 PM to 7:20 PM, with stars at 6:28 PM. The moon rises at 12:15 AM, which is already Monday 2 November. A Mumbai family that breaks the fast at moonrise is fasting into the next calendar day.

The Ashtami tithi begins at 2:51 PM on 1 November and ends at 1:10 PM on 2 November, Indian time. The evening of the 1st is the only evening that falls inside it, which is why the fast is on Sunday.

Stars or moon

Some families end the Ahoi fast when the first stars appear in the early evening, and others wait for the moon. Ahoi Ashtami falls on the eighth day of the waning moon, when the moon rises late, so in 2026 the gap between the two customs is close to six hours in Delhi and longer in Mumbai.

A bride keeping the fast for the first time in her husband's family should ask which custom the household follows before the day, because no panchang can answer that for her.

Ahoi Mata and the story behind the fast

Women draw Ahoi Mata on a wall or embroider her on cloth, often with eight corners for the eighth day. The picture usually includes children and a lion.

The story told on the day is about a moneylender's wife who goes into a forest to dig soil and, by accident, kills a lion cub with her spade. The lion curses her, and within a year her seven children die. A message from the gods sends the couple home to serve a cow and worship Ahoi. The wife repents, keeps the fast, and the goddess restores her family. In the Punjabi telling the animal is a baby porcupine rather than a cub.

What goes on the puja plate

The offerings follow the number eight: eight puris, eight puas and halwa, given afterwards to a Brahmin with some money. A karwa, the clay pot also used at Karwa Chauth, and a few shoots of grass are kept with the puja.

Radha Kund

DrikPanchang lists Radha Kund snan on the same day. Couples who want a child bathe in Radha Kund, the tank in Mathura district named for Radha, and worship there.

The calendar quirk

In north India the festival sits in the month of Kartik, because the north counts months from full moon to full moon. Gujarat, Maharashtra and the south count from new moon to new moon and place it in Ashwin. The day of the fast is the same under both.

Around it

Karwa Chauth comes first, on Thursday 29 October. After Ahoi Ashtami the Diwali week begins, with Rama Ekadashi on Thursday 5 November, Dhanteras on the 6th and Diwali on Sunday 8 November.